TSC Committee - Guidance Without Bias

TSC Committee - Guidance Without Bias

With the unification of the Alberta Common Ground Alliance (ABCGA) and Utility Safety Partners (USP) on January 1, 2021, the Training Standards Committee (TSC) is now being administered through USP. The transition was smooth with no delays to the TSC or the training providers when submitting applications to be audited. USP has three contract auditors who have done a great job in ensuring the training provider audits are completed in a timely manner. A contract administrator manages the TSC while also keeping the training providers information and application status up to date. 

My role with the TSC is to be a liaison between the TSC and USP. I ensure that the TSC is properly functioning and will continue operations, while providing any resources from USP that are necessary. As the Accounting Assistant for USP, I work with the training providers and invoice them on a quarterly basis based on how many GD 201 and GD 101 courses were taught by each provider. I also invoice training providers for any training applications that require auditing. At the end of the year, I provide financial statements to the TSC that shows the committees operational expenses and revenues so that they can allocate any profit accordingly.

At USP we ensure to be open and transparent with the TSC, while ensuring that we are not influencing the committee with any type of bias. The committee’s goals, objectives, and decisions are discussed and agreed upon between the members of the TSC. The decisions are then put through an approval process to ensure that a single stakeholder is not making decisions for the entire TSC. The decision process begins with a proposed change being sent to the TSC Admin, who will then bring the proposal to the next quarterly TSC meeting. The changes will then be discussed amongst the TSC and then voted on with majority ruling. Any approved changes are then sent to a TSC auditor who will confirm that the changes are consistent with the standards and endorsement process. After the TSC Auditor confirms the changes, the proposal is sent to the TSC Chair and USP President for final approval.  

Travis Mackie - Accounting Assistant - Utility Safety Partners